The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published two final sets of guidelines aimed at enhancing the protection of investors in the EU. The guidelines relate to the provisions under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) relating to the suitability of investment advice and the compliance function.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published a warning to retail investors about the dangers of investing in contracts for difference (CFDs).The two authorities are concerned that during the current period of low investment returns, inexperienced retail investors across the EU are being tempted to invest in complex financial products, which they may not fully understand and which can end up costing them money they cannot afford to lose.Andrea Enria and Steven Maijoor, Chairs of the EBA and ESMA, warned:“Retail investors across the EU should be aware of all the risks arising from investing in CFDs. These products appear to promise investors substantial returns at a low cost but may ultimately cost them far more than they may have intended or could afford to lose.“CFDs are complex products that are not suitable for all types of investors, therefore you should always make sure that you understand how the product you are buying works, that it does what you want it to do and that you are in a position to take the loss if it fails.”Investors trading CFDs should protect themselvesInvestors should only consider trading in CFDs if they have extensive experience of trading in volatile markets, if they fully understand how these operate and have sufficient time to manage their investment on an active basis.Investors should carefully read their agreement or contract with the CFD provider before making a trading decision. They should make sure that they at least understand the following:
• the costs of trading CFDs with the CFD provider, • whether the CFD provider will disclose the margins it makes on their trades, • how the prices of the CFDs are determined by the CFD provider, • what happens if they hold their position open overnight, • whether the CFD provider can change or re-quote the price once an investor places an order, • whether the CFD provider will execute investor’s orders even if the underlying market is closed, • whether there is an investor or deposit protection scheme in place in the event of counterparty or client asset issues.If investors do not understand what’s on offer, they should not trade. Further information Always check if the CFD provider is authorised to do investment business in your country. You can check this on the website of the CFD provider’s national regulator. A list of all the national regulatory authorities, and their websites, is also available from:• ESMA at http://www.esma.europa.eu/investor-corner; and • EBA at http://www.eba.europa.eu/Publications/Consumer-Protection-Issues.aspx.The investor warning on CFDs will be translated into the official EU languages.Concurrently with the publication of this warning, the EBA is addressing an internal Opinion under Art. 29 of the EBA Regulations to national supervisory authorities on the prudential supervision of CFDs. Notes for editors1. ESMA/2013/267 Investor Warning – Contracts for Difference (CFDs)2. ESMA and the EBA are independent EU Authorities that were established on 1 January 2011 and work closely with the European other European Supervisory Authority responsible for insurance and occupational pensions (EIOPA).3. ESMA’s mission is to enhance the protection of investors and promote stable and well-functioning financial markets in the European Union (EU). As an independent institution, ESMA achieves this aim by building a single rule book for EU financial markets and ensuring its consistent application across the EU. ESMA contributes to the regulation of financial services firms with a pan-European reach, either through direct supervision or through the active co-ordination of national supervisory activity.4. The EBA has a broad remit in the areas of banking, payments and e-money regulation, as well as on issues related to corporate governance, auditing and financial reporting. Its tasks include the protection of consumers and depositors, preventing regulatory arbitrage, guaranteeing a level playing field (especially by building a single rule book for the European banking system) strengthening international supervisory coordination, promoting supervisory convergence and providing advice to EU institutions. Further information:Reemt SeibelESMA Communications Officer Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 4272Mob: +33 6 42 48 55 29Email: reemt.seibel@esma.europa.eu
David CliffeESMA Senior Communications OfficerTel: +33 (0)1 58 36 43 24Mob: +33 6 42 48 29 06Email: david.cliffe@esma.europa.euRomain SadetEBA Communications Officer Tel: +44 (0) 207 997 5914Mob: +44 (0) 7785 463278 Email: romain.sadet@eba.europa.eu
Franca CongiuEBA Communications OfficerTel: +44 (0) 207 382 1781Mob: +44 (0) 7771 376395Email: francarosa.congiu@eba.europa.eu

Final Report 2013/614
ESMA‘s technical advice on the evaluation of the Regulation (EU) 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its Technical Advice 2013/evaluating the impact of the Regulation on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps (Regulation) on European financial markets. Press release Final Report 2013/614—ESMA‘s technical advice on the evaluation of the Regulation (EU) 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an Opinion on practices to be observed by investment firms when selling complex financial products to investors. ESMA is issuing this opinion to remind national supervisors and investment firms about the importance of requirements governing selling practices under MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive).ESMA is issuing this Opinion as it is concerned that firms’ compliance with the MiFID selling practices when selling complex products may have fallen short of expected standards. The concerns relate mainly to the suitability and appropriateness of complex products that are increasingly within the grasp of retail investors. The Opinion sets out ESMA’s minimum expectations with respect to the conduct of firms when selling complex products to retail investors.Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said:
“Investment firms increasingly sell complex financial products such as warrants, different types of structured bonds, derivatives and asset-backed securities, which were previously accessible mainly to professional investors, to retail investors.“ESMA is concerned that this trend greatly increases the risk that customers do not understand the risks, costs and expected returns of the products they are buying. Therefore, we believe that it is crucial that investment firms act responsibly and in the best interest of their clients.“The level of concern regarding the risk posed by these products to investor protection when MiFID rules are not fully respected is such that we have also issued an EU-wide warning to investors in order to raise awareness about the risks arising from investing in these types of complex products.”
The marketing and sale of complex financial products, in particular to retail investors, is an important investor protection area where ESMA wants to ensure a consistent approach to the application of the MiFID conduct business rules - thereby improving supervisory convergence.The areas covered by the Opinion relate to:
firms’ organisation and internal controls;
the assessment of the suitability or appropriateness of certain products;
disclosures and communications in relation to products; and
compliance monitoring of the sales functions.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched the
consultation process for the implementation of the revised Markets in
Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR). This
is the first step in the process of translating the MiFID II/MiFIR
requirements into practically applicable rules and regulations to
address the effects of the financial crisis and to improve financial
market transparency and strengthen investor protection.MiFID
II/MiFIR introduces changes that will have a large impact on the EU’s
financial markets, these include transparency requirements for a broader
range of asset classes; the obligation to trade derivatives
on-exchange; requirements on algorithmic and high-frequency-trading and
new supervisory tools for commodity derivatives. It will also strengthen
protection for retail investors through limits on the use of
commissions; conditions for the provision of independent investment
advice; stricter organisational requirements for product design and
distribution; product intervention powers; and the disclosure of costs
and charges.MiFID II/MiFIR contains over 100 requirements for
ESMA to draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementing
Technical Standards (ITS), and to provide Technical Advice to the
European Commission to allow it to adopt delegated acts. In order to
ensure that MIFID II achieves its objectives in practice, ESMA is
publishing the following documents:1. Consultation Paper on MiFID/MiFIR Technical Advice
– ESMA needs to deliver this advice to the European Commission by
December 2014 and is therefore subject to a condensed consultation
process for this paper; and2. Discussion Paper on MiFID/MiFIR draft RTS/ITS
– this will provide the basis for a further consultation paper on the
draft RTS/ITS which is expected to be issued in late 2014/early 2015. The closing date for responses to both papers is Friday 1 August. Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said:“The
launch of today’s MiFID II/MiFIR consultation process is an important
step in the biggest overhaul of financial markets regulation in the EU
for a decade. The reform of MiFID is an integral part of the EU’s
strategy to address the effects of the financial crisis and aims to
bring greater transparency to markets and to strengthen investor
protection. These changes are key to restoring trust in our financial
markets.“We appreciate the magnitude of this exercise
for stakeholders. We strongly encourage all those affected by these
reforms to provide their views to ensure that we take them into account
in our final proposals.”The main issues covered in the
Discussion and Consultation Paper are divided into those addressing the
structure, transparency and regulation of financial markets, and those
aimed at strengthening investor protection.Financial Markets Structure, Transparency and RegulationThe main proposals in this area cover the following issues:
enhanced
transparency and trading obligations - increasing pre- and post-trade
transparency for many categories of instruments, e.g. shares, ETFs,
certificates, bonds and derivatives, limitations to trade shares OTC and
new obligations to trade derivatives on trading venues;
micro-structural
issues – refining the definition of high frequency trading and direct
electronic access and specifying the requirements for operating in the
market using algorithmic techniques;
data publication and access
– issues related to the development of the consolidated tape including
requirements for tape providers, approved publication arrangements and
reporting mechanisms, and the definition of a reasonable commercial
basis for data sales; and the access to CCPs, trading venues and
benchmarks;
other organisational requirements for trading venues; and
commodity derivatives – new regulatory tools, including position limits.
Investor ProtectionThe main proposals relating to the improved protection of retail investors include technical advice on:
inducements – new limitations on the receipt of commissions (inducements);
independent advice – clearly distinguishing independent from non-independent advice;
product
governance – requirements on the manufacture and distribution of
financial products including target market and risk identification;
product
intervention/banning - introducing powers for both ESMA and national
regulators to prohibit or restrict the marketing and distribution of
certain financial instruments; and
improved information on costs
and charges – requirements to provide clients with details of all
charges related to their investment (relating to both the investment
service and the financial instrument provided) so they can understand
the overall cost and its effect on their investment’s return.
In
addition, the draft regulatory technical standards in the investor
protection area relate to the authorisation of investment firms,
passporting, and certain best execution obligations.Next StepsESMA
will hold three public hearings about secondary markets, investor
protection and commodity derivatives issues on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8
July. Further details on the hearings will be published on ESMA’s
website.
2014/548
2014/549

Reasons for publication
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) received a formal request (mandate) from the European Commission (Commission) on 23 April 2014 to provide technical advice to assist the Commission on the possible content of the delegated acts required by several provisions of Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). The mandate focuses on technical issues which follow from MiFID II and MiFIR and is available on the European Commission website (here). ESMA was required to provide technical advice by no later than six months after the entry into force of MiFID II and MiFIR (2 July 2014).
Contents
This final report follows the same structure as the Consultation Paper (CP) published by ESMA on 22 May 2014 which is: (1) Introduction, (2) Investor protection, (3) Transparency, (4) Data publication, (5) Micro-structural issues, (6) Requirements applying on and to trading venues, (7) Commodity derivatives and (8) Portfolio compression. This paper also contains summaries of responses to the CP received by ESMA. The rationale of those items covered already in the CP for which no relevant changes have been introduced, is not developed again in this Final Report. ESMA recommends, therefore, to read this report together with the CP published on 22 May 2014 to have a complete vision of the rationale for ESMA’s technical advice.
Next steps
Delegated acts should be adopted by the Commission so that they enter into application by 30 months following the entry into force of the Directive and Regulation, taking into account the right of the European Parliament and Council to object to a delegated act within 3 months (which can be extended by a further 3 months).

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published today its final technical advice (TA) and launches a consultation on its draft regulatory technical and implementing standards (RTS/ ITS) regarding the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR).
Both ESMA’s TA and draft RTS translate the MiFID II/MiFIR requirements into practically applicable rules for market participants and national supervisors. The new regulatory framework aims at ensuring that secondary markets are fair, transparent and safe and that investors’ interests are safeguarded when being sold investment products.
Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said:“Today’s implementing rules on both secondary markets and investor protection issues reflect ESMA’s desire to achieve the best outcome for market users and investors, taking into account the extensive submissions received from our stakeholders. The advice now goes to the European Commission to use in preparation of its delegated legislation, while our technical standards are open for a second round of consultation.
“Once fully implemented, MiFID II will have a significant impact on the EU’s securities markets, its users and infrastructure providers. It will bring greater transparency and improve the overall functioning of markets thus strengthening investors’ trust in the financial sector.”MiFID II to include most financial instruments, trading venues and techniquesMiFID II/MiFIR introduces changes to the functioning of secondary markets, including transparency requirements for a broad range of asset classes; the obligation to trade derivatives on trading venues; requirements for algorithmic and high-frequency-trading and new supervisory tools for commodity derivatives.
The key proposals stemming from ESMA’s TA/draft RTS cover the following issues: • increased trade transparency, for non-equity instruments, in particular bonds, derivatives, structured finance products and emission allowances;• a trading obligation for shares and a double volume cap mechanism for shares and equity-like instruments, introducing a major change to the framework for trading these instruments in the Union;• an obligation to trade derivatives on MiFID venues (regulated markets, multilateral (MTFs) or organised trading facilities (OTFs)) only, in line with G20 requirements;• newly introduced position limits and reporting requirements for commodity derivatives;• rules governing high frequency trading, imposing a strict set of organisational requirements on investment firms and trading venues;• provisions regulating access to central counterparties (CCPs), trading venues and benchmarks, designed to increase competition in the Union; and• requirements for a consolidated tape of trading data, including rules for tape providers, reporting, publication and sales of data.MiFID II to improve investor protection
ESMA’s TA proposes that the Commission adopts a number of measures that will further the protection of investors across the EU. The main proposals relating to the improved protection of investors, especially retail, include:• clarifications about the circumstances in which portfolio managers can receive research from third parties;• clarifications under which circumstances inducements meet the quality enhancement requirement for the provision of advice;• requirements for investment firms manufacturing and/or distributing financial instruments and structured deposits to have product governance arrangements in place in order to assess the robustness of their manufacture and/or distribution;• requirements for firms to provide clients with details of all costs and charges related to their investment, including cost aggregations, the timing of disclosure (ex-ante and ex-post); information to non-retail clients; the scope of firms subject to this obligation; information on the cumulative effect of costs on the return; • organisational requirements for firms providing investments advice on an independent basis; and• specification of powers for ESMA and national regulators with regards to prohibiting or restricting the marketing and distribution of financial instruments. Next stepsThe TA has been finalised following extensive consultations with stakeholders and will now be sent to the European Commission. ESMA’s draft RTS/ITS, already previously consulted upon, are open for public comment until 2 March 2015. In addition, an open hearing will be held in Paris on 19 February 2015.
ESMA will use the input received from the consultations to finalise its draft RTS which will be sent for endorsement to the European Commission by mid-2015, its ITS by January 2016. MiFID II/ MiFIR and its implementing measures will be applicable from 3 January 2017.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has conducted a peer review on how national regulators (national competent authorities or NCAs) supervise and enforce the MiFID provisions relating to investment firms’ obligation to provide best execution, or obtain the best possible result, for their clients when executing their orders. ESMA found that the level of implementation of best execution provisions, as well as the level of convergence of supervisory practices by NCAs, is relatively low. In order to address this situation a number of improvements were identified, including: . prioritisation of best execution as a key conduct of business supervisory issue; . the allocation of sufficient resources to best execution supervision; and . a more proactive supervisory approach to monitoring compliance with best execution requirements, both desk-based and onsite inspections. The review was conducted on the basis of information provided by 29 NCAs and complemented by on-site visits to the NCAs of France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Spain.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Guidelines on Cross-Selling Practices under MiFID II (guidelines) to ensure investors are treated fairly when an investment firm offers two or more financial products or services as part of a package.

The guidelines include principles on:

improving disclosures when different products are cross-sold with one another;

requiring firms to provide investors with all relevant information in a timely and clear manner;

addressing conflicts of interest arising from remuneration models; and

improving client understanding on whether purchasing the individual products offered in a package is possible.

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) – EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - initially intended to issue joint guidelines covering all cross-selling practices taking place in the banking, insurance and securities sectors given that cross-selling is often cross-sectoral, and had consulted the stakeholders previously on this basis.

However, in light of legal concerns, the ESAs decided not to issue joint guidelines on cross-selling practices but agreed that ESMA should issue ESMA-only guidelines under MiFID II in order to meet its 3 January 2016 deadline.

While ESMA’s guidelines take into account the results of the ESAs’ joint consultation, the final report focuses on the feedback regarding cross-selling practices under MIFID II. Further, the guidelines are addressed to national regulators supervising the firms which provide MiFID services, when they engage in cross-selling practices.

The ESAs intend to inform the European Commission about the issues encountered and raise the possibility of legislative change to provide a foundation for future joint guidelines.